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By Jason McDaniel

On a day the player he replaced set a franchise record with his new team with a 105-yard kickoff-return touchdown, Texans kick returner Keshawn Martin finally tasted a little success of his own.

The rookie from Michigan State had his longest punt return since taking over for Trindon Holliday, a 26-yard runback that helped the Texans pull away from the Buffalo Bills in the third quarter.

“It felt good to get out there, bust a little return,” said Martin, whose Texans won 21-9 on Sunday at Reliant Stadium. “It definitely set the offense up for the touchdown. Those are the important things that we’ve got to do on special teams — get good field position and go from there.”

Martin’s return came after a three-and-out by the Bills to start the third quarter, when the Texans still were nursing a 7-6 halftime lead. He took a 43-yard punt back to the Bills’ 43-yard line.

From there, the Texans ran five plays to score, with Arian Foster’s 3-yard TD run giving them a 14-6 advantage.

Not a good start
Going into the game, Martin had just 28 yards on five punt returns, including a 19-yarder. Take that one out of the equation, and the rookie was averaging only 2.3 yards per return in two outings.

“He’s come close a few times to making some really big plays, and I think the potential is there,” kicker Shayne Graham said. “It’s just a matter of actually getting that seam and breaking it free.

“I don’t feel like it’s something that can’t happen. We have confidence in him. We just have to block our assignments and make plays.”

It didn’t look like that would happen early, for Martin or the rest of the special teams.

Martin decided not to field the Bills’ first punt in the first quarter, and it rolled all the way to the Texans’ 4.

“I probably could have got it, but I just played it on the safe side and let it go because it would have been a close one,” Martin said.

Punter Donnie Jones had to try again after his first punt, which pinned the Bills at their 9, was erased by a penalty. They ended up at their 27. And Graham’s 46-yard field-goal try was blocked.

Gaining ground
Graham hadn’t had a kick blocked since December 2009, and it was his first miss inside 50 yards this season.

“It felt like a great hit, so I don’t know what happened, where the guy (defensive tackle Alex Carrington) came from, any of that,” Graham said.

Still, the net returns from the return game were as good as they’ve been all year.

Martin also returned three kickoffs for 62 yards (with one for 28), Jones averaged nearly 50 yards on five punts (49.4), and the Bills managed only 9.3 yards per punt return and 13 yards per kick return.
The Texans’ average starting position was their 25, the Bills’ their 26.

“Obviously, the last punt of the game, we were trying to punt a ball out of bounds, and you serve it up right down the middle of the field,” Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. “That can’t happen.

“But for the most part, we did cover better.”

Special teams didn’t, however, score any better.

The Texans still are looking for their first return touchdown, while the player they jettisoned just recorded the longest TD in Denver Broncos history — and his former teammates were excited to hear it.

“I’m happy for him,” Graham said. “He had a great preseason for us, and it’s unfortunate it didn’t quite work out for him here. But I’m happy to see him do well and help another franchise out.